Back in 2004, international adoptions were breaking records around the world. That year, Americans adopted 23,000 children from other countries, a historic high. Since then, however, global adoptions have taken an epic nosedive. In 2014, the U.S. adopted a mere 6,441 children, a 72 percent decline on 2004. In Ireland, adoptions from overseas plummeted 91 percent during the same ten-year period while in Spain, adoption rates also declined by a massive 85 percent.
So, what happened? According to the website priceonomics, the first signs of change occurred in the 1980s as countries tightened international adoption regulations. In some cases, countries were accused of illegal adoption activities such as baby selling, prompting an abolition of foreign adoption programs. This has resulted in supply shrinkage in "sending" countries who are worried about possible accusations of wrongdoing by "receiving" countries.
Though many wealthy countries consider the question of international adoption overwhelmingly positive, some nations view the practice of taking a child away from its family and community and sending it to the other side of the world as a serious one. Increasingly, it is being seen as a last resort in many instances. That, along with the tightening of regulations around the world has prompted the foreign adoption plunge.
*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)
